UPDATE: Man gets 18 years for abduction and rape

Monday

A New Windsor man who pleaded guilty in December of first-degree rape has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

GOSHEN - A New Windsor man was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison for abducting and sexually assaulting a woman last summer.

Peter Donnery, 28, was sentenced in Orange County Court in keeping with the terms negotiated when he pleaded guilty Dec. 4 to first-degree rape.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Kelle Grimmer outlined the crimes Donnery committed early on July 3: He snatched the victim - a woman who was a stranger to him - off the street in the City of Newburgh about 2:30 a.m., grabbing her by the hair, then dragging her into his car with such force that her shoes were left behind. The passenger side door of Donnery's car didn't unlock from the inside.

Grimmer said Donnery drove the woman into New Windsor, where he sexually assaulted her.

Afterward, when Donnery stepped out of the car, the woman seized the chance and escaped, climbing across to the driver's side and fleeing barefoot. She encountered a female jogger about 4:30 a.m. who helped her.

Donnery's lawyer, Douglas Jones, spoke about his client's background, saying it offered insight, although not an excuse for his actions.

Jones said Donnery was adopted at a young age, and was soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder and attention deficit-hyperactive disorder. Relying on a presentencing report prepared by probation, Jones said Donnery reported to interviewers that he suffered physical abuse at the hands of his adoptive father.

Donnery's family says there was never any abuse in the household.

Donnery suffers from substance abuse, using PCP, marijuana, cocaine and alcohol. In 2007, Jones said, Donnery attempted suicide. He was hospitalized with diagnoses including bipolar disorder and ADHD, as well as for anxiety and aggression, and reported being assaulted by a fellow patient while institutionalized. Donnery takes multiple medications for his mental-health issues, Jones said.

Donnery made one brief statement: "I just want to apologize."

Judge Nicholas De Rosa imposed the sentence agreed to in the plea deal: 18 years in prison, plus 10 years of post-release supervision by parole.

hyakin@th-record.com

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